July 31st.....A Day To Remember♥️

Remember my happy wee sunflower that grew in my planter?

Well look at him today!

He is looking so bright and happy...

It made me smile...

Inspite of my heavy heart today...

My dear brother Tom...

Passed away 17 years ago today...

He was only 39 years old...

Broke a lot of people's hearts when he died...

I miss him endlessly...

Speak of his crazy antics often...

My kids adored him, 'cause he was silly...not afraid to have fun...always a smile on his face...

So...

This bright sunny flower...

Makes me think of Tom...

We miss you...

Love you...

Forever...♥️

 He was 7 years my junior, so I had a lot of babysitting chores!...Mom and Dad were very busy socially, and my older brother Bill and I were often left to take care of Tom and my younger sister...never a dull moment I'll tell 'ya!
He was an avid Fisherman, and we would rent a cottage with him in the summer...the kids had a ball with him...always into something...
My boyfriend tells hilarious stories of fishing trips with him...
He died one month before we got our cottage...but I had shown him pictures, and he couldn't be happier for us...
He also inherited my parents love of cooking...as we all did...and we would always spend the holidays together...Turkey was always delicious!
Nice 80's hairdo on me, eh???

 Rest in peace Tommy...

Oh how he would loved loved this wee one! And she would have had so much fun with him♥️

We will raise a glass of cheer to you this evening Tom....

Love 'ya...

He always used to phone me...and say "Hi Honey"...still brings tears to me eyes...


                                             Cheers!  :o)
                                             linda

Zoom...Zoom...

 When sitting on the beach deck...

Looking back at the cottage...

I love to ZOOM in on things...

Get closer...

And closer...

Man...

I LOVE my camera♥️

Gosh...

My dragon wing Begonia looks pretty awesome too!!

Hope you are all having a great day...

Getting warmer here...sunny...but I swear I heard some thunder in the distance...

Spent the day with Miss V...went to the $ store and bought her a bunch of stuff!!!

Stickers...coloring books....you know...the usual junk!!

Heading out to eat shortly...Greek..I think!!

How's that for poetry!!


                                Cheers!  :o)
                                  linda

Saturday Flowers...Clouds....Guests...Rainbow♥️

As I may have mentioned...

We had guests for a sleepover at the cottage on Saturday...

I got busy early, and put together a few arrangements with my handsome Hydrangeas...

Added a few Hosta flowers as well...as they were in abundance!

I love the steel container my boyfriend found at the thrift shop...

Perfect with a vase inside...

I will get a lot of use out of that...

FOR SURE!!!

This was my very first crop of tomatoes...

They're a mix of orange, yellow and red...very sweet and delicious!

Devon suggested adding them to the Greek Salad...

They were perfect!!

There were a lot of clouds that day...

Luckily enough...

Just a sprinkle of rain...

We all stayed on the deck...under one of the big cantilever umberellas...til the clouds passed!!

Before they arrived...

I was fussing about inside...

Took a few pics of myself...

HA HA HA!!!



Didn't even have to fuzzy this one up, Tammy!!!!

It was already fuzzy!!

Just the way I like it!

We spent the afternoon on the beach deck...

Chatting...laughing...being silly!!

And...of course...a few cocktails and snacks!!

Devon would not let me take a picture of her face...

I just took a pic of Mark's hairy chin!!!

Mark was kind enough to split some logs for us...we were gonna have a fire...if it got too chilly...but...we didn't need to!

We did eat inside though...as it was really windy...

Enjoyed BBQ chicken thighs...baked taters...corn on the cob...and greek salad...

                                        DELISH!!!
 

We were rewarded with a beautiful rainbow...late afternoon...

Awesome!!

After dinner we had a few dances...

Listened to fabulous music...

more cocktails!!

retired to the sunporch...

And we all slept like logs...

THE END!!

  

                 Hope you are all having a great day...cooler and windy here...

                   Kind of a slow day for me...and I like it!!

                     enjoy your evening....

                                   Cheers!  :o)
                                     linda

Friday At the Cottage.....

 We arrived at the cottage late   
 Thursday evening...

Just enough time to check things out...before the Sun set...

Friday morning brought coffee and English Muffins...with my own peach jam...to the beach deck for breakfast with the early sun...

Saw the Bunny on my way down, and went back for my camera...

He was in no hurry to leave his munching spot!!

 My large fluffy Sunflower, has sprouted a few friends alongside...

Hope they wait til next weekend to open up!!

 

 
My beautiful Begonias were loving the morning sun...still wet from the night before...

I stole out, and put the sprinkler on for a while!!

They needed a drink♥️
 

Hydrangeas looking real good...

Cut a few for a vase...

Wonder where the pinkish hue came from??

Perhaps my shirt!!

I was wearing a bright pink t-shirt...

Very strange......

Friday was spent tending to the garden...

Cleaning inside...

Sprucing things up...

For our guests on Saturday... 

Love this Coleus with the ruffly pink edges...

This Fountain Grass continues to put a smile on my face.......every time!!


                                                *******************

Hope you all had a great weekend...

That was some storm yesterday,eh??

Hope you are all safe and sound...

               Enjoy your evening....

                    Cheers!   :o)
                     linda

Bits & Bobs.......

Just a few random shots from the last few weeks...

A small thrifty buy...pretty painted jar...perfect for putting beach glass we find at the beach..odd shaped shells and stones...if we don't put them away..we usually lose the beach glass!

I collect shoes!!! Thought this one was like an Aladdins lamp!!! Love the crockery and the hand painted flowers... 

Blue and white glass jar with lid...sits proudly on the kitchen shelf...has Belgium written on the bottom...

Small hand embroidered tablecloth...
Also has LUNCH and DINNER embroidered on the corners...so cute!

Also a larger linen tablecloth...with flowers...very heavy linen...

I love finding beautiful linens while thrifting...

 Scrabble board...one of many...while out at the cottage with my SIL a few weeks ago...

Amazingly I actually won a few games!!

Seagulls are always plentiful at the cottage...

Sometimes they even look regal...

Bottom picture looks like they are comparing notes after a hard day!!

This day I put together a couple of succulents in some vintage dishes I had...

I had stones from the beach...which I added on top...

I will bring them in for the winter...

They look lovely all winter...

I added some waxy begonias to the centre of the longer dish...

they are looking fabulous! 

I always make a weekend arrangement at the cottage...with whatever is in bloom...

This was the Sweet Pea weekend...in my vintage 3 holed vase...

I think they looked perfect!

I am hoping for a Hydrangea arrangement this weekend...they were quite large last weekend...but didn't have time!!


this blooming Milkweed was teaming with ants this day...

I found the blooms were not as spectacular this year....perhaps old man winter had something to do with that!!!

Hope you are all having a great day...

Off to the lake...

Friends coming out on Saturday for a sleepover...hope the rain holds off...

If not...we can always tell stories...listen to music...play euchre...we will have fun...for sure!!

Perhaps...(I say that jokingly)...a few cocktails! tee hee hee!!!

                             

Hope you all have a great weekend...

See you at the end of it!!

                   Cheers!   :o)
                      linda